Aqueous bleach compositions containing alkali metal hypohalites, particularly sodium hypochlorite, have been known for many years. Because of their powerful oxidizing action they have also been acknowledged to be powerful stain removers and germicides and have been used extensively where this property is beneficial, in laundry bleaches, in the cleaning of baths, wash basins, flush toilets, drains and ceramic tile floors.
Selected surfactants such as amine oxides and alkyl phenoxy benzene disulphonates are known to be used in hypochlorite compositions for various purposes. They are used as foamers, solubilizers, thickeners and suspending agents. The drawback to such use in modern times in certain compositions is that these surfactants foam too much when packing, which slows down fast line speed bottling and packing rates.
The usefulness of organic antifoamants is believed to be new in the art of fast line speed packing of aqueous hypochlorite bleach compositions. However, some additives used in hypochlorite bleach compositions may contain small amounts of materials which could be useful as antifoamants if used at elevated levels. E.g., the antifoaming property of 2,6-dimethyl-2-octanol, a component of a perfume mixture, is not recognized in U.S. Pat. No. 3,876,551, to R. J. Laufer and J. H. Geiger, Jr., issued Apr. 8, 1975.